Rural bank IT manager gets 8 years for stealing GH¢159,300

A 32-year-old IT system administrator has been handed an eight-year jail term for hacking into the system of Buuwulonso One Stop Rural Bank and stealing an amount of GH¢159,300.

Cephas Agbodo who was found guilty by a Tamale High Court was sentenced to hard labour for stealing from his former employer.

Agbodo who was employed by another rural bank, Borimanga Rural Bank at Savelugu in the Northern Region reportedly hacked into the system of his former employer and succeeded in transferring the amount into two separate accounts.

He was charged with 12 counts of stealing and money laundering and was found guilty on the first count of stealing after over two years of trial that began in 2019 but was acquitted and discharged on counts two to 12 by the court.

The presiding judge, Mr. Justice Richard Kogyapwah ordered that an amount of GH¢30,818 that was retrieved in a safe during a search in Mr Agbodo’s room by the police during his arrest and the monies he transferred from the accounts of his former employer into the two accounts be returned to his former employer.

As reported by Daily Graphic, the prosecution presented that the complainant was the manager of the ARB Apex Bank in Tamale, while Mr Agbodo was a system administrator at the Borimanga Rural Bank at Savelugu, and was once an employee of Buuwulonso One Stop Rural Bank that was declared distressed, and its operations suspended and all the staff sent home.

The accused person after losing his job landed a new position with Borimanga Rural Bank at Savelugu and upon assuming duty, he hacked into the accounts of his former employer and transferred GH¢2,000 and GH¢600 respectively into his accounts at Borimanga Rural Bank.

Mr Abbodo through the help of one Emmanuel Denteh was able to open another account at the Tamale branch of the Bonzali Rural Bank, and transferred various sums of money amounting to GH¢159,300 into the two accounts that were withdrawn by his younger brother, Moses Abgodo and Issahak as and when the convict effected the transfers.

The complainant, who was aware of the suspension of operations of the Buuwulonso One Stop Rural Bank, having become suspicious of the transfers, alerted the managers of the two receiving banks that the transactions were fraudulent.

On May 15, 2019, Alhassan Issahak and Moses Agbodo attempted to withdraw an amount of GH¢10,000 which was transferred into his account but were arrested by the police who had been alerted by the bank manager.

The convict was then arrested after investigations by the police.

The convict according to the Prosecution admitted during interrogation that he had molded 2,106 cement blocks on a piece of land which he had acquired with the money he stole from the bank.